The ODI batting giants: part 2

This is part two of the article on ODI Batting giants. The first part covered the standard measures. In this article I will be looking at certain special performance measures. Despite the requests by several readers, I have retained the same fifteen batsmen, in order to be consistent. However I am open to select a subset of these two articles, say 8-9 tables, and do the analysis for all ODI batsmen. This will depend on the readers' comments.

Though I could not satisfy all requests, a couple of tables were added to the few planned based on the the comments received. Since I already had seven tables planned I could not take in all requests. Also, where there were two suggestions on a single measure, say the Index, I have opted for the simpler one.

1. Impact Innings / High Scoring Index / MOM

	Innings	ImpactInns	% ImpactInns	Inns-TopScored	% TopScores	Inns-Second TS	TS Points	TS Index	MOMs	MOM Frequency
Richards	167	51	30.5%	54	32.3%	25	116.8	0.70	31	5.39
J Miandad	218	50	22.9%	55	25.2%	39	122.2	0.56	19	11.47
Crowe	141	32	22.7%	45	31.9%	17	85.5	0.61	18	7.83
M Waugh	236	41	17.4%	50	21.2%	40	112.3	0.48	22	10.73
Tendulkar	452	101	22.3%	129	28.5%	68	282.3	0.62	60	7.53
Jayasuriya	433	63	14.5%	84	19.4%	55	189.1	0.44	46	9.41
Lara	289	58	20.1%	70	24.2%	51	157.4	0.54	30	9.63
Inzamam	350	70	20.0%	60	17.1%	79	157.9	0.45	23	15.22
Flower	208	40	19.2%	51	24.5%	37	109.8	0.53	10	20.80
Bevan	196	43	21.9%	46	23.5%	30	90.0	0.46	12	16.33
Ponting	365	49	13.4%	64	17.5%	73	152.7	0.42	32	11.41
Kallis	307	58	18.9%	78	25.4%	47	160.1	0.52	32	9.59
Gilchrist	279	51	18.3%	54	19.4%	35	114.9	0.41	28	9.96
Pietersen	121	26	21.5%	32	26.4%	12	57.8	0.48	10	12.10
Dhoni	196	44	22.4%	31	15.8%	35	74.3	0.38	18	10.89

I am sure readers could justifiably comment that a 110 had no impact on the match while a 21 at No.7 had greater impact. I concede that. A context-driven innings ratings work, on the anvil, would bring out all such nuances. However here we are looking at players' careers at a macro level. Hence I have developed logical, easy-to-understand definitions to determine impact innings by the batsmen. The rules are given below. The idea is that it is easier for the top-order batsmen to score more runs, score a higher percentage of team runs but will score at lower rates, more often than not. The late-order batsmen are unlikely to accumulate runs and score higher percentage of team runs but are likely to score at a much faster rate. It is certain that some tweaks of the following numbers could be suggested. However these are based on common sense and are applied across all batsmen. My advice to readers is not to split hairs on these numbers and concentrate on the broad picture.

Definition of Impact innings

BatPos 1-3:
Runs scored 100 or more OR
Runs scored 50 or more and % of Team Runs 33% or more OR
Runs scored 50 or more and Relative Scoring Rate 125 or more.
BatPos 4-6:
Runs scored 75 or more OR
Runs scored 40 or more and % of Team Runs 25% or more OR
Runs scored 40 or more and Relative Scoring Rate 137.5 or more.
BatPos 7-11:
Runs scored 50 or more OR
Runs scored 25 or more and % of Team Runs 20% or more OR
Runs scored 25 or more and Relative Scoring Rate 150 or more.
Relative scoring rate = Individual SR / Team SR.

Richards leads the table with an impressive tally of 30.5% in the impact innings measure. That is just under one-in-three. He is way ahead of the next best, in this case, Miandad with 22.9% and Martin Crowe, with 22.7%. All three played their cricket before the 1990s. Dhoni and Tendulkar follow next. Jayasuriya's uncertain career moves are reflected in his 14.1% value. And I am sure most of these would have been in the second third of his career.

For the Innings Top score analysis I have adopted an intriguing method. For this I only consider the innings in which the batsman either top-scored or was the second-best score. Let us define these as PR, HS1 and HS2, where PR is the player runs and the other two represent the top two scores. It is easier to represent this in a formulaic fashion. If PR equal to HS1, then add PR/HS2 (will be above 1.00) to the TS points value, otherwise, add PR/HS1 (will be below 1.00). Finally divide this by the total number of innings played to arrive at the TS-Index. Higher TS-Index values indicate higher players performances at around the top of team scores.

First the % of innings the batsman top-scored. Richards (how often do we see him at the top in these performance based measures) with 32.3% of his innings being top scores. Martin Crowe follows close with 31.9% and then there is some daylight and Tendulkar at 28.5%. As expected, Dhoni, batting at the late order positions, has top scored only 15.8%. Richards is also in the top position of the TS-Index table, with a value 0.70. Tendulkar is next with 0.62 and Martin Crowe follows with 0.61. The way this index value is structured, it is not easy to even finish with 0.50.

Now comes the often subjective but important measure of MOM awards received. For sheer number of awards, Tendulkar, having played over 450 innings, leads with 60 awards. However the performance measure for this is the MOM-frequency which is Innings per MOM award. Who leads? Who leads? None other than Richards, with a very low figure of 5.39 inns per MOM. The next best is Tendulkar, requiring 7.5 innings per MOM and then, Martin Crowe, with a MOM every 7.83 innings. Incidentally Amla's TS-Index is 0.77 and he wins a MOM every 6.5 innings.

These are all performance-based analyses and it is amazing that Richards leads in each and every one of these.

2. World Cup SF-F Champions Trophy Finals / Significant / Early matches

	WC - F&SF, CT - F					Significant matches					Early matches
Batsman	Inns	Runs	Balls	RpI	S/R	Inns	Runs	Balls	RpI	S/R	Inns	Runs	Balls	RpI	S/R
Richards	6	303	400	50.50	75.8	0	0	0	0.00	0.0	15	710	804	47.33	88.3
J Miandad	4	185	271	46.25	68.3	3	68	128	22.67	53.1	23	830	1169	36.09	71.0
Crowe	1	91	83	91.00	109.6	1	43	62	43.00	69.4	19	746	909	39.26	82.1
M Waugh	4	49	73	12.25	67.1	6	383	443	63.83	86.5	14	653	785	46.64	83.2
Tendulkar	7	331	428	47.29	77.3	22	800	980	36.36	81.6	29	1588	1714	54.76	92.6
Jayasuriya	7	165	197	23.57	83.8	23	874	941	38.00	92.9	27	662	796	24.52	83.2
Lara	4	72	100	18.00	72.0	16	592	692	37.00	85.5	30	1026	1239	34.20	82.8
Inzamam	3	117	106	39.00	110.4	13	191	348	14.69	54.9	20	472	640	23.60	73.8
Flower	0	0	0	0.00	0.0	10	354	509	35.40	69.5	23	726	993	31.57	73.1
Bevan	4	170	261	42.50	65.1	10	300	443	30.00	67.7	8	150	257	18.75	58.4
Ponting	10	308	365	30.80	84.4	26	1341	1644	51.58	81.6	24	687	946	28.62	72.6
Kallis	3	95	152	31.67	62.5	23	1000	1302	43.48	76.8	23	706	932	30.70	75.8
Gilchrist	7	305	261	43.57	116.9	22	674	692	30.64	97.4	15	488	561	32.53	87.0
Pietersen	0	0	0	0.00	0.0	7	383	472	54.71	81.1	9	310	343	34.44	90.4
Dhoni	2	116	121	58.00	95.9	4	10	21	2.50	47.6	9	233	301	25.89	77.4

This is a very important table to measure how the batsmen contributed in important tournaments. I have been quite tough in fixing the qualification criteria. I have only considered the 10 Word Cups and 6 Champions Trophy tournaments. There may be other 6/7-team tournaments. But only true World level tournaments make the cut.

I have looked at the performances in three categories. The first consists of the really important tournament-winning matches: World Cup Finals, Semi-Finals and Champions Trophy Finals. The second category consists of the significant later stage matches: Super-Six matches, Quarter-Finals and Champions Trophy Semi-Finals. The third category consists of all other matches in these tournaments.

In the first category, Tendulkar, Ponting, Gilchrist and Richards have exceeded 300 runs. This is reflected in their teams' successes. The average does not mean much. Hence only RpI is shown. More important than that is the total number of runs scored. Look at Gilchrist's strike rate in these matches, exceeding 115. Tendulkar has scored 331 runs, at a much lower strike rate.

Ponting leads in the significant matches category, with over 1300 runs. Kallis comes in next with exactly 1000 runs, outlining his importance to South Africa in these key matches. There is nothing for Richards since these matches were non-existent during the first 3/4 World Cups. Tendulkar is the run-away leader in the third category, with nearly 1600 runs, at an excellent strike rate. Lara follows next with just over 1000 runs and Miandad has also done well considering that he played only in World Cups.

It should be noted that all these three classifications are mutually exclusive. Tendulkar has scored a staggering 2700+ runs in these important world level tournaments. He missed the first four editions of the World Cup.

3. Career Summary (Revised Index) incorporating Batting position analysis

Batsman	Inns	NOs	Runs	Balls	Avge	S/R	RpI	Index	BatPosAvge	Best BP	BBP Inns	BBP Runs	BBP RpI
Richards	167	24	6721	7451	47.00	0.902	0.192	8.16	3.96	4	81	3373	41.64
J Miandad	218	41	7381	11014	41.70	0.670	0.170	4.75	4.07	4	160	5678	35.49
Crowe	141	19	4704	6476	38.56	0.726	0.173	4.85	3.21	4	53	1899	35.83
M Waugh	236	20	8500	11053	39.35	0.769	0.161	4.87	2.27	1	141	5729	40.63
Tendulkar	452	41	18426	21367	44.83	0.862	0.180	6.95	1.83	1	340	15310	45.03
Jayasuriya	433	18	13430	14723	32.36	0.912	0.143	4.21	1.53	1	383	12740	33.26
Lara	289	32	10406	13086	40.49	0.795	0.171	5.52	3.30	3	106	4447	41.95
Inzamam	350	53	11739	15812	39.53	0.742	0.152	4.46	4.17	4	147	5175	35.20
Flower	208	16	6785	9097	35.34	0.746	0.156	4.12	3.55	4	82	2868	34.98
Bevan	196	67	6914	9320	53.60	0.742	0.150	5.97	5.32	6	87	3006	34.55
Ponting	365	39	13703	17046	42.03	0.804	0.157	5.30	3.10	3	330	12661	38.37
Kallis	307	53	11499	15756	45.27	0.730	0.165	5.44	3.42	3	196	7760	39.59
Gilchrist	279	11	9619	9922	35.89	0.969	0.146	5.09	1.39	1	259	9200	35.52
Pietersen	121	16	4369	5036	41.61	0.868	0.157	5.67	3.76	4	67	2352	35.10
Dhoni	196	56	7259	8228	51.85	0.882	0.150	6.87	5.45	6	82	2512	30.63

This is a revision of the ODI Batting Index. I have adopted Deepak's suggestion and got a revised Index value. His suggestion that the Index could be "Average x Strike Rate x Share of team runs" has a lot going for it. The top order batsmen who could lose on average because of decreased number of not-outs are likely to score a higher % of team runs. The compensation may not be complete but at least there would be a partial compensation. The "share of team runs" is also a dimension-less value. Richards scored 19.2% of his team runs, Tendulkar, 18% and Jayasuriya, 14.3%. The average seems to be around 16%. It should be understood that this analysis is valid only across the entire career since only then does the % of team runs have meaning.

What do we have here? This clearly shows how far ahead Viv Richards is. His revised Index value is 8.16 and is nearly 15% ahead of Tendulkar, the second-best. Dhoni is next, a very high average of 51 contributing to this position. Quite a number of batsmen are in the sub-5 level indicating how tough it is to get a high value in this revised index. Just out of interest, Amla (57.81/0.922/0.21) hits the ceiling with a stupendous Index value of 11.2. de Villiers has an imposing 7.8 and Kohli, an equally good 7.4.

The average batting position is self-explanatory. The only additional information needed is that both openers are assigned 1 as the batting position. Thus the batsmen who spent the better part of their careers opening the batting, such as Gilchrist, Jayasuriya and Tendulkar have Avge Batpos values below 2.0. The lower the value, the more often the batsman has opened. The best batting position numbers are based on runs scored. There could be other positions in which the batsmen could have averaged more. There is no surprise. Tendulkar, Jayasuriya, Mark Waugh and Gilchrist have excelled in the opening positions. Dhoni and Bevan in position number 6. And the others in the middle-order positions (3/4/5).

4. Middle-order runs (3 and 4)

Batsman	3/4 Inns	3/4 NOs	3/4 Runs	3/4 Balls	3/4 Avge	3/4 S/R	3/4 RpI	3/4 Index
Richards	132	21	5791	6484	52.17	89.3	43.9	39.2
J Miandad	178	35	6409	9572	44.82	67.0	36.0	24.1
Crowe	111	15	3671	4995	38.24	73.5	33.1	24.3
M Waugh	54	4	1786	2400	35.72	74.4	33.1	24.6
Tendulkar	71	9	2151	2856	34.69	75.3	30.3	22.8
Jayasuriya	12	1	252	326	22.91	77.3	21.0	16.2
Lara	190	18	6963	8520	40.48	81.7	36.6	30.0
Inzamam	208	28	7208	9792	40.04	73.6	34.7	25.5
Flower	108	7	3775	4832	37.38	78.1	35.0	27.3
Bevan	56	16	2359	3389	58.98	69.6	42.1	29.3
Ponting	347	34	13307	16553	42.51	80.4	38.3	30.8
Kallis	270	47	10414	14176	46.70	73.5	38.6	28.3
Gilchrist	1	0	29	44	29.00	65.9	29.0	19.1
Pietersen	96	8	3131	3736	35.58	83.8	32.6	27.3
Dhoni	34	9	1903	1876	76.12	101.4	56.0	56.8

This is again based on a request from a few readers. They asked me to do a table for runs made in positions 3 and 4 also. This would round up the batting analysis since I have already covered opening, 5 and 6 positions. It is obvious that 3 and 4 are the key positions usually occupied by the best batsmen: Richards, Tendulkar, Ponting, Lara et al. I decided to combine the 3 & 4 into a single analysis.

Look at Richards. An average of 52 when he bats in these pivotal positions, at a strike rate of 89 leads to an Index value of 39. He is far ahead, to the tune of 30%, of the next best significant players, Ponting and Lara, clocking in at just above 30. Ponting, however, has scored millions of runs at these key positions. Dhoni's numbers are high, but too few innings have been played.

5. Team share of runs/balls

Batsman	Runs	TeamRuns	% Runs	Balls	TeamBalls	% Balls	Ratio
Richards	6721	34916	19.2%	7451	46338	16.1%	124.4%
J Miandad	7381	43384	17.0%	11014	59177	18.6%	89.6%
Crowe	4704	27137	17.3%	6476	38045	17.0%	102.2%
M Waugh	8500	52857	16.1%	11053	65755	16.8%	94.8%
Tendulkar	18426	102472	18.0%	21367	121972	17.5%	103.2%
Jayasuriya	13430	94109	14.3%	14723	115565	12.7%	114.0%
Lara	10406	60677	17.1%	13086	77443	16.9%	101.8%
Inzamam	11739	77201	15.2%	15812	97097	16.3%	92.2%
Flower	6785	43455	15.6%	9097	58050	15.7%	99.6%
Bevan	6914	46061	15.0%	9320	55459	16.8%	87.4%
Ponting	13703	87361	15.7%	17046	99543	17.1%	90.0%
Kallis	11499	69899	16.5%	15756	83422	18.9%	84.6%
Gilchrist	9619	65733	14.6%	9922	74264	13.4%	111.2%
Pietersen	4369	27818	15.7%	5036	32819	15.3%	102.8%
Dhoni	7259	48308	15.0%	8228	53776	15.3%	97.9%

This is a straight-forward % of player numbers out of total team numbers. More important than the numbers are the ratios between the two numbers. This gives a clear idea of the % of out-performance for each player. Richards out-performed his team mates by 24%. Jayasuriya, by 14% and Gilchrist, by 11%. Kallis and Bevan are at the other end of the table. It should be noted that for want of complete data on when the batsman was dismissed, this analysis is based on the total team score. Hence please apply some caveats when using this.

6. First & Second Innings

	First Innings					Second Innings
Batsman	Inns	Runs	Balls	RpI	S/R	Inns	Runs	Balls	RpI	S/R	RpI % First-to-Second
Richards	80	3711	3893	46.39	95.3	87	3010	3559	34.60	84.6	134.1
J Miandad	127	4340	6461	34.17	67.2	91	3041	4552	33.42	66.8	102.3
Crowe	75	2422	3345	32.29	72.4	66	2282	3130	34.58	72.9	93.4
M Waugh	130	5181	6573	39.85	78.8	106	3319	4481	31.31	74.1	127.3
Tendulkar	220	9706	11507	44.12	84.3	232	8720	9861	37.59	88.4	117.4
Jayasuriya	223	7688	8568	34.48	89.7	210	5742	6156	27.34	93.3	126.1
Lara	132	4981	6132	37.73	81.2	157	5425	6953	34.55	78.0	109.2
Inzamam	199	6943	9231	34.89	75.2	151	4796	6582	31.76	72.9	109.8
Flower	110	3825	5027	34.77	76.1	98	2960	4071	30.20	72.7	115.1
Bevan	115	4032	5047	35.06	79.9	81	2882	4272	35.58	67.5	98.5
Ponting	212	8629	10407	40.70	82.9	153	5074	6640	33.16	76.4	122.7
Kallis	152	5981	8094	39.35	73.9	155	5518	7662	35.60	72.0	110.5
Gilchrist	149	4830	5172	32.42	93.4	130	4789	4751	36.84	100.8	88.0
Pietersen	60	2370	2740	39.50	86.5	61	1999	2295	32.77	87.1	120.5
Dhoni	101	4104	4384	40.63	93.6	95	3155	3844	33.21	82.1	122.4

This analysis looks at the performances of batsmen while batting first or second. Nothing is gained by looking across batsmen. It is necessary to look within batsman. Richards, Mark Waugh, Jayasuriya, Ponting et al have performed better setting up the target than while chasing. Gilchrist, Martin Crowe, Bevan, Miandad et al have done better while chasing. I leave it to the readers to draw their own conclusions. Richards has the biggest positive difference and Gilchrist, the highest negative difference.

7. Home / Neutral / Away analysis

	Home matches					Neutral locations					Away matches
Batsman	Inns	Runs	Balls	RpI	S/R	Inns	Runs	Balls	RpI	S/R	Inns	Runs	Balls	RpI	S/R
Richards	26	805	892	30.96	90.2	59	1995	2341	33.81	85.2	82	3921	4253	47.82	92.2
J Miandad	60	1976	2605	32.93	75.9	82	2832	4277	34.54	66.2	76	2573	4131	33.86	62.3
Crowe	56	1884	2617	33.64	72.0	32	1179	1626	36.84	72.5	53	1641	2231	30.96	73.6
M Waugh	113	3827	5100	33.87	75.0	43	1614	2059	37.53	78.4	80	3059	3898	38.24	78.5
Tendulkar	160	6976	7895	43.60	88.4	146	6385	7278	43.73	87.7	146	5065	6195	34.69	81.8
Jayasuriya	124	3880	4357	31.29	89.1	162	5463	5944	33.72	91.9	147	4087	4422	27.80	92.4
Lara	85	3225	4090	37.94	78.9	111	3969	4830	35.76	82.2	93	3212	4167	34.54	77.1
Inzamam	64	2674	3306	41.78	80.9	159	5133	6955	32.28	73.8	127	3932	5551	30.96	70.8
Flower	57	1887	2457	33.11	76.8	76	2544	3491	33.47	72.9	75	2354	3148	31.39	74.8
Bevan	80	2849	3958	35.61	72.0	45	1577	2126	35.04	74.2	71	2488	3231	35.04	77.0
Ponting	150	5406	6814	36.04	79.3	86	3208	4051	37.30	79.2	129	5089	6186	39.45	82.3
Kallis	131	5102	6794	38.95	75.1	75	2689	3836	35.85	70.1	101	3708	5126	36.71	72.3
Gilchrist	110	3960	4010	36.00	98.8	62	2017	2134	32.53	94.5	107	3642	3779	34.04	96.4
Pietersen	41	1130	1319	27.56	85.7	17	816	996	48.00	81.9	63	2423	2720	38.46	89.1
Dhoni	75	3010	3302	40.13	91.2	38	1232	1361	32.42	90.5	83	3017	3565	36.35	84.6

This is a location-based analysis. The matches are split into Home, Away and Neutral locations since many matches are played in neutral locations and many World Cups have two outside teams playing. It is interesting to note that most batsmen play more outside their home location. Tendulkar was the best performer at home, closely followed by Inzamam and Dhoni. Pietersen, albeit in very few innings, was masterful in neutral locations, followed by Tendulkar, in nearly 150 innings. Richards was the king in outside locations. Ponting was also quite good. Look at the magnificent strike rates of Gilchrist everywhere, Jayasuriya on neutral and away grounds and Richards in outside locations.

8. Won / Lost matches

	Won matches					Lost matches
Batsman	Inns	Runs	Balls	RpI	S/R	Inns	Runs	Balls	RpI	S/R	RpI % Won-to-Lost
Richards	114	5129	5630	44.99	91.1	51	1501	1839	29.43	81.6	152.9
J Miandad	107	3931	5398	36.74	72.8	104	3389	5369	32.59	63.1	112.7
Crowe	60	2694	3415	44.90	78.9	78	1938	2987	24.85	64.9	180.7
M Waugh	146	6054	7683	41.47	78.8	85	2335	3219	27.47	72.5	150.9
Tendulkar	231	11157	12358	48.30	90.3	200	6585	8243	32.92	79.9	146.7
Jayasuriya	228	8873	9189	38.92	96.6	192	4044	4969	21.06	81.4	184.8
Lara	134	6554	7565	48.91	86.6	144	3557	5020	24.70	70.9	198.0
Inzamam	191	7434	9427	38.92	78.9	146	4118	6054	28.21	68.0	138.0
Flower	57	2402	3116	42.14	77.1	144	4252	5821	29.53	73.0	142.7
Bevan	122	4504	5953	36.92	75.7	70	2276	3164	32.51	71.9	113.5
Ponting	254	10725	13007	42.22	82.5	96	2658	3602	27.69	73.8	152.5
Kallis	194	8012	10582	41.30	75.7	100	3162	4638	31.62	68.2	130.6
Gilchrist	196	7657	7709	39.07	99.3	72	1767	1955	24.54	90.4	159.2
Pietersen	51	1878	2146	36.82	87.5	64	2281	2683	35.64	85.0	103.3
Dhoni	107	4578	4698	42.79	97.4	82	2333	3154	28.45	74.0	150.4

Wins are achieved by teams. However this analysis completes the huge exercise. It is certain that the winning RpI values for all these batsmen would be much higher than the RpI in losing matches. The difference ranges from very little for Pietersen (3% difference) to very high for Lara (98% difference).

I have created 16 tables for these selected 15 batsmen. Many readers have suggested that other batsmen should have been considered. Ganguly has had quite a few votes. Hence I will select 8-9 tables out of these, based on readers' responses. I will then do the analysis across all batsmen, subject to a minimum number of innings or runs, and come out with an ordered set of tables. This will ensure that there is fair representation across all players and it would be a performance-centric article.

Any doubts in deciding on the best ODI batsman have been clearly dispelled. The leading position of Viv Richards in many of these tables indicates that he is, unarguably, the best ODI batsmen of all time. This is supported by the fact that there is considerable gap between Richards and the next batsman in many measures. All this was done when the rest of the world scored at around 70 and the target for most teams was 250. He also did not have any powerplays assisting him. Not just the "Master Blaster" but the "Master".

Any number of IPL matches, with coloured clothing, Bollywood stars, million-dollar players, imported cheerleaders and umpteen numbers of sixes cannot match those last 15 minutes at Eden Park, Auckland. Those dot balls were far more important than many a six hit. Who cares if Prior does not have an IPL contract? He can hold his head high. Panesar faces 5 balls, probably more important than many a wicket he has captured. Test Cricket lives, and how! And from next week onwards, the sublime to the big-brash-bash.

And my fervent prayers go to Jesse Ryder to get well soon. A great character with undeniable talent, with a special fascination for the Indian attack: all three of his hundreds were scored off the Indian bowlers.